Tragedy: Two killed in plane crash, 'very sad hours'

The wreckage of a small red-and-white aircraft remained scattered across a field a day after it crashed near the summer festival of the Weinheim flying club in Baden-Württemberg. Two men died, while a woman and a three-year-old child suffered severe injuries.

The crash happened a few hundred meters from the festival site, in Viernheim in neighboring Hesse. Bushes reportedly blocked much of the view from the celebration. At the crash site, the plane's propeller lay about five meters from the fuselage, while a wheel and other debris had been thrown across the surrounding area. The aircraft's front was destroyed, its right wing had broken off, and the pilot's and adjacent passenger's seats remained visible.

An aviation accident investigator was examining the site the following day. “We cannot yet say why, how or what happened,” he said, adding that the initial work focused on establishing the facts. The Darmstadt public prosecutor's office also said the investigation into the cause would take time. A spokesperson for the flying club said it could take several weeks or even months to reach a result.

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We cannot yet say why, how or what happened.

Under the standard procedure of Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, an interim report normally follows after about two or three months, while a final report can take roughly a year. Police said the plane crashed for an unknown reason while approaching an airfield in Weinheim, although the investigator at the scene said it was not yet certain that the accident occurred during the landing approach. The club had announced several aerobatic displays for the festival and later took its website offline.

Police identified the dead as a 67-year-old man, apparently the pilot, and a 76-year-old passenger. The injured 40-year-old woman and child were taken to hospital. Prosecutors said three of the people aboard were related.

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It will take several weeks or perhaps even months before we have a result here.